Hello my dear readers, fanfiction writers and casual guests! I welcome you to yet another chapter of Sand Castles!
If you had been paying attention yesterday, you would've seen me flying over the Moon! I have two more reviews! Sooooo happy! Big thanks to anamorales25 and The Kazekage of Suna! I was on a roll after getting more input, and wrote like a beast :D
I would like to say that this is not my favorite chapter, actually I find it a bit boring and a bit of a filler, but I needed to give a different side this time, I pray that the OCs are not killing you guys xD
My playlist for this chapter is:
Shiva in Exile - Breathing
Shiva in Exile - Golden Rain
Shiva in Exile - Ride the Storm
I adore this band as you can see hehe~
So today I give you Chapter four:
In which the clan arrives to the summit…
She awoke with a start. She never was a heavy sleeper. These days, she woke up even faster. Soon was the only thing that rang in her mind. Soon she would see her clan again. Soon she would hear all the stories. Soon she would be home for a little while.
The black haired teen got up, making her bed. She quickly changed into white robes. In the morning she had to undergo a ritual of purification. At least that how it used to be. Now, the girls just got together for a bath in the Spirit Springs. The boys had a different ritual that they did. She never discovered what it was. And all of them were pretty tight-lipped about it. Knowing them, they all discussed women while doing the ritual. How typical.
The Grand Priestess allowed them much freedom. She wanted them not to believe blindly in the religion, but to see why the rituals were created. The woman wanted them to be themselves. She wanted them to blossom into fine flowers and to keep their beliefs alive. She encouraged them to think, and through that, to fall in love with the beliefs, just like she had. The Grand Priestess allowed them freedom and expected them to, in return, respect the religion.
The girl exited her room, closing the old wooden door behind her. She followed the stone corridor all the way to the newly built wooden staircase. The whole city was very old. The stone structures were ancient, some broken and partially unusable. However, under the reign of the current Grand Priestess, said to be a descendant of the First Grand Priestess herself, the city was cleaned, some of it restored and it was back in everyday use. This was the place where the Summit of the Clans would be hosted.
"Kisara!" A clear voice rang from above. The girl, Kisara, looked up to see her friend on top of the stairs. She gave her a smile and waited for her to catch up.
"Excited?" The taller girl asked.
"Oh, Eileen, you have no idea!" Kisara answered happily. A large smile was on her face as she told Eileen again about her clan. The priestess-in-training was terribly homesick. These days, when the summit was so close, she kept staring of into space, thinking about her family. Eileen herself missed her clan, but not as much. The girl had grown up with her aunt and uncle, along with their three children. However they were all warriors, and they were very proud of it and focused on it. When she turned out to have the Sense, they were happy and sent her to train to be a priestess. She went through a period of homesickness, but in the end, she preferred it here, with all the rest of the trainees. She liked being similar to others for a change.
Kisara on the other hand, she was one of the rare priestesses to come from the clan that ruled the Pale Mountain and the Western Starsea. Eileen remembered when the girl had first arrived. She had been a tiny, afraid but curious little thing. She had gotten used to everything in record time and then proceeded to make their lives miserable with pranks.
Eileen was rather jealous of Kisara's skills as a priestess, though. The girl was horrible at everything they learnt in theory, but when they applied it, she was impressive. If Eileen had to choose the best dancer in their group, it would probably be Kisara. The girl could enchant with her skill. She also understood the Spirit World in a way that was inexpiable. It was a running joke that Kisara could be great, if she just focused a bit more. The teen however, dreamed of adventures and not of circles. She didn't want to spend her life being a door to the other world. She didn't want to learn about politics or about history of the clans. She didn't want to learn anything by heart, she seemed to forget it as soon as she heard it. Instead Kisara 'winged it' and went with the flow. Her friend was truly amazing in many ways.
Eileen realized that Kisara was silent, which was unusual, so she turned to her friend. Who wasn't there anymore. Eileen looked behind her, to find the black haired girl groaning on the floor, in a very un-ladylike position.
"Did you decide to attack the floor again, Kisa? What did the poor thing ever do to you?" Eileen walked back, extending a hand to help the clumsy girl up. Great at dancing or not, the kid had two left feet.
"It was challenging me. I don't think it would be fair for me to just ignore our usual morning greeting." Kisara accepted the help and got back on her feet. "Besides, I found a flower for you!" She exclaimed happily, showing Eileen the impromptu gift. The white blossom had come from one of the many vines that grew in the corridor. Eileen accepted the gift with a laugh, putting it in her hair. The girls continued towards the Springs.
Chatter filled the corridors they were using soon and the duo entered a bigger room. It was lit by small openings in the ceiling and the blue crystals that lined the walls were reflecting the light, causing the whole space to look ethereal. There was clear water, coming from the walls, creating small waterfalls, filling up a couple of basins and flowing further down into the ground. The rocks were all light blue, speckled with minerals and shaped to accommodate the bathing girls better. This was one of the sacred places of the ancient city, the Spirit Springs, and during the morning hours it was filled with white clad priestesses-in-training. They bathed, braided each other's hair and talked.
Eileen and Kisara joined their friends in the Springs. They found out that the clan that ruled the Red Forest and the Cloudlake was already here. They would have to greet them properly. Kisa couldn't wait to hear all the stories that these people brought. That was her favorite part of the summit. She could hear all the different accents, meet all kinds of different people and discover the variations of the same culture that they shared.
Eileen got out of the springs, leaving to get dressed. She draped her, now wet, white robes over her arm as she walked. Here, wandering the halls without clothes was a given. They were all children of this world, just like they were children of the Spirit world. They were born naked and they died naked. In their separate sections the boys and girls learned to live without the constriction of clothes, just like in the beginning of times. Eileen wasn't too fond of it, but she got used to feeling exposed. No one here was looking. No one here was going to attack her. She needed no hidden weapon.
The girl climbed the spiral stairs yet again and entered her room. There she chose the ceremonial priestess-in-training garb. It consisted of a long dress, made of pale blue, light material that flowed like liquid, a decorated sash around the waist and a haori-like light garment with complicated designs on it that was worn over all that. Eileen tied her sash properly, without a bow or knot. By then Kisara had invaded her room to help her with her hair. She put Eileen's locks up in ceremonial braid, putting pearls, gems and flowers in it carefully. The long hair started like a ponytail and then became a series of complicated decorated twists and knots. Eileen in turn helped Kisa with her dark mass of locks.
The duo soon finished getting ready for the day and left together yet again. Today there were preparations to be made. They weren't going to meditate and study and practice their Sense, instead they would have to prepare the city for the arrival of the clans. Most of the rooms in the old city were now available for use, but even then, some of them weren't ready to receive guests. The boys were mostly in charge of carrying things up and down the long spiral staircases while the girls set sheets, dusted and washed. The Grand Priestess had even allowed them an occasional spirit summon to hurry the process. It was really helpful when you didn't have to carry beds from one part of the city to another, but you could fly it by skyfish. In the Grand Hall, where they usually dined, there were huge tables set up, which would be able to hold most of the food to feed the clans. It was a custom for the tribes to bring some of their own food, so the groups in charge of cooking had it a bit easier.
Kisara and Eileen were in a small group that was in charge of moving the debris from the lower levels of the city. By tonight those corridors and rooms had to be set up and usable. Eileen had already opened a small gate, allowing one of her loyal spirit summons to appear. The creature was similar to a rabbit, with a long tail and tiny, and useless, wings on its back. It was a very weak spirit, but it was useful in these situations. The creature pounded its, protected by a crystal shield, head against the larger rocks, breaking them down, and helped the group of about six people carry the debris out. From there on another group would carry the usable pieces where they were needed and take the rubble out of the city borders.
Kisara was envious of her friend's talent. She had no control whatsoever. She still hadn't gotten any loyal spirit companions. All the ones she met were either too strong and only interested in fighting or completely psycho and only wanted to eat humans. Pretty soon, Kisa had tied her sleeves up and bundled the long dress and haori in an inventive way to allow more movement. It was now that she wished she could wear here the things she usually wore while with her clan.
"Short break everyone!" A voice rang down the corridor. Ari was a tiny girl, in charge of cooking all the time. "Here are some refreshments!" She cheerfully called them all over. "Woooow, this place looks so much better now! Good work!~" She praised the tired group.
The boys and girls walked over each grabbing some lemonade and a sandwich. The priests-in-training had taken their shirts off by now, in an attempt to cool down. Kisara gave Ari a grin. The small girl blushed, returning the smile. Ari had arrived after Kisa, so the elder was usually in charge of the small thing. All in all, Ari reminded her of her own little brother. He was probably taller now, though.
"Sheesh, Kisa, let me fix that, please." Eileen came over, her spirit in tow. She grabbed Kisa's loose sash and tightened it, the younger girl choking in surprise when her air supply was lessened.
"You're going to kill me with your love, Eilee." She half glared at the perfectionist behind her. The boys all laughed at their antics.
"I see some girl on girl action over here." Zed gave his input, smirking at the only girls in their group. Ari blushed a deep tomato red, hiding her face behind her hands. Kisa laughed along with the boys, while Eileen looked murderous.
Zed was a tall youth, taller than most of them, and has been training for a priest for ages. No one really knew when he had arrived, but everyone knew him. He was handsome, but interested in the only girl he couldn't have, Eileen. His carefree attitude, perverse jokes and constant flirting did him no good in his wooing quest. He was the kind of guy who pulled the pigtails of the girl he liked. Unfortunately, Eileen was the kind of girl who would sick a spirit on such a guy. Kisa on the other hand, quite liked him. He was loyal, and he loved all of the children who came to train. He took care of everyone before himself, and gave great advice. His fashion sense was impeccable, too.
"Oh, Zed, you wouldn't recognize girl on girl even if it hit you in the face." Eileen retorted, her usual composure gone. It always ended up like this. Kisara only ever saw Zed rile Eileen up.
"I-I'm sorry everyone!" Ari interrupted. "I really need to get back." She grabbed the tray with the leftovers and the empty glasses and left. Kisa managed to get one more sandwich of the tray as the small girl was leaving. She separated the bread and ate what she liked from the inside, giving the rest to Eileen's spirit summon.
"You spoil them all too much." The spirit's mistress frowned at the priestess-in-training. Kisa grinned.
"Hey Kisa!" Zed called her over. "Can you get up there, where that arch is and dislodge that rock? The map shows a room behind it." The priest-in-training was bent over his parchment, studying the complex lines. The long haired girl looked where he was pointing. It was pretty high, but she could get there.
"Who do you take me for?" She asked him cheekily. "I will demonstrate my monkey skills to you once more, pitiful human!" She joked and jumped onto the sharp rocks. Without a movement wasted she climbed all the way to the top of the arch. Zed tossed her a tool carefully and she caught it. Soon the rocks were dislodged and Kisara was safely on solid ground yet again. The boys picked up the debris, carrying it out, while Eileen and Kisa dusted with their brooms.
Kisara's shoulder was itching terribly. She bent her arm awkwardly and scratched the itch. It stopped stinging. She picked up some smaller rocks and threw them on a pile. Kisara really couldn't wait to see her family. She wanted to see how much her little brother had grown. He was probably taller than her. She wanted to hear the stories he had now. Her shoulder was itching again. She scratched it, only to feel something weird on it. Maybe a piece of her hair had fallen out of the braid? Or her clothes? She grasped the thing and pulled it forward to see what it was. The thing was hairy, wriggling and eight legged. For a second everything was still. Then she threw the horrible arthropod as far as she could and did what any other girl would. Screamed her lungs out.
~~~~~Page break, have a cookie, please~~~~~
Shura still couldn't believe that the Devil's Merchant was so… normal. The child had joined their expedition towards the summit, along with his two camels. He was a little ball of joy. Shura had found out that the boy was talkative, which meant that he was switching between languages and talking his head off a mile an hour about nothing and everything. She found out that the kid loved sweets and that he could list all types of chocolate that existed. He talked about animals, countries and funny people that he had met during his travels. Shura, however, was too enamored by the cute child that she didn't notice what Gaara did.
He listened carefully to Jin. He had heard a lot about the Devil's Merchant. He was a master of trade, a silvertongue. He talked easily, not really telling anything important. The child was unnatural. Gaara had heard rumors, how the Merchant sold souls and magic. He didn't want to believe it, but now, when he was standing next to the child, he could see it. There was something terribly wrong with him. Gaara had carefully watched Chaizen while the man interacted with the Merchant. The warrior obviously trusted Jin. Gaara, on the other hand, wasn't sure if the man was just being manipulated by the strange child. After all, the Merchant already had Shura, a Chunin, cuddling him and hanging onto his every word.
The Kazekage could also see the benefit of having someone like Jin as an acquaintance. The child had precious items from the desert to sell, he traveled all over the place, without fear, and he had many powerful connections across the nation. The Merchant, too, dealt with information. He held an insane amount of power, just in his head. For a right price, he could probably bring blackmail on anyone in the Wind country.
Shortly after the Merchant had joined them, they had left the oasis, travelling towards the summit yet again. Gaara ended up working with Sul on the deck, Jin still on his mind. Lim had ended up with the Merchant and Shura, taking care of the sails. Chaizen was teaching Kan how to steer the ship, which was the cause of Toru's sandsickness getting even worse. The redhead had to admit that the constant leaning of the boat was rather unnecessary and annoying. He had bumped into Sul a few times and got a glare to rival Temari's. The Wanderer woman still refused to speak to him.
After a while, Kan gave up on steering, to the joy of many people on board. He came to relieve Gaara for a while. The redhead decided to go up and see what Lim and Shura were up to. He could also keep an eye on Jin while checking on the kunoichi. He climbed the rigging all the way to the crow's nest. He found it much easier to move around the ship in Wanderer clothing. He had even rolled his sleeves like Chaizen showed him. When he arrived into the nest, he saw the trio sitting and drinking. Lim jumped up in joy, pulling the Kage down and passing him a goblet of Fruit Water. By now, Gaara found it enjoyable and it didn't dull his senses like when he drank it the first time.
"Gaara-san, that tattoo!" Shura caught his attention. She was staring at the golden design Lim had made on his arm the previous day. Surprisingly, it hadn't washed at all when he bathed.
"That's a good friendship mark. Where'd ya' get it?" Jin was looking now, too, a grin on the child's face. Lim stared between the three of them in confusion. Gaara pointed at the Wanderer. He had no idea Lim had drawn a friendship mark. He had had no idea that there was a certain meaning to the tattoo. He had thought it was just a pretty tattoo. Now, when he saw Shura's face, he knew it wasn't that simple.
"What about it, Shura?" He asked the surprised kunoichi. Lim seemed to have caught onto what they were talking about and now he was rattling off in the strange language, but Shura wasn't paying attention.
"Gaara-san, it's a big deal to make a tattoo for someone. It's like giving a promise. I don't know how to really explain it." She frowned a bit. "Each person that draws those has their own style, and different tattoos are drawn for different people. Like to a parent, child, friend or a lover. To give one to someone is like saying you value them a lot."
Gaara stayed silent for a moment. He wasn't sure quite how to take this. He had thought that Lim was just drawing him a simple tribal tattoo because he wanted to. He really didn't think much about it at the moment. He looked at the Wanderer in question. The tan youth grinned at him. Obviously Jin had translated to him. Gaara thanked the youth Wanderer, in his language, stumbling over the foreign words. Lim's smile widened, if that was even possible by now. He threw his arm over Gaara's shoulder, surprising the redhead, and gave him an unexpected side hug. The sand didn't even react. Personal space didn't exist in this Wanderer's vocabulary and Gaara wasn't sure if he liked it or not yet. He, for sure, wasn't used to such familiarity.
But he did decide that he liked the fact that the youth was relaxed around him. The Wanderer kept, somehow, making Gaara's awareness vanish. His presence was relaxing, and no one escaped his pace. Shura, too, wasn't always paying attention to Gaara's every move with caution. Now she was laughing and joking, even with him. Lim said something to Shura in the Wanderer language, all while pointing at the redhead.
"He says he saw you had a 'Love' on your forehead, and thought he'd put a 'Friend' on your arm." Shura translated, giving Gaara a soft smile. Jin's face suddenly appeared in the Kage's field of vision.
"Oooooh~ And what are you going to tattoo down there, Kazekage-sama?" The Merchant gave him a cat-like grin, laughing at his own joke. Gaara on the other hand, felt hit sand twitch towards the child.
"Ohohoooo~ Scary, scary!" The red eyed child didn't look scared at all, he looked generally amused. Lim said something, quite confused which caused the two that understood him to burst laughing. As their conversation picked up, Gaara looked at his marked arm. He could bear to call this Wanderer his friend, he supposed.
"Woah! We have arrived! Look!" Jin's voice distracted the other two, which made them all miss a rare smile on the Kage's face.
Gaara also peered over the railing from his position on the ground. He could see an outline at the horizon. There were towers. He was soon bombarded with information about the ancient city. Jin was talking a mile an hour again, switching languages and poking them when they didn't pay attention to him. Gaara caught Lim's wink directed at the Kage. The Wanderer gestured up with his finger and then put it against his lips. The Kazekage caught on, and soon the two were climbing further up the mast, just like Sul had done, leaving Shura to listen to the Merchant's history rant.
From here, Gaara could see it better. They were flying swiftly across the sand towards some kind of ruins. He could make out tall towers on top of the sand and one part of a large dome. As they got closer, Gaara noticed more details. The towers were ball shaped on top and decorated with different designs and statues. The ships slowed down and then stopped. A whistle came from the deck, telling them to come down and get ready. Gaara was ready to climb down, when Lim grabbed his hand and pulled him forward abruptly.
For a second they were falling, and Gaara felt a pit of fear in his stomach, but then they landed together on one of the sails, sliding smoothly down. They still picked up quite a bit of speed, so when Lim grabbed some rigging to slow them down, it wasn't too comfortable. Gaara quickly maneuvered the sand around them and they landed safely. Lim was laughing happily, and the Kage found himself wanting to join in, until Chaizen came over and started scolding the tan youth. Later, Gaara found out that Lim had already ripped a few sails perfecting his impromptu slide technique. Chaizen, of course, wasn't happy about the damage to his ship.
The shinobi changed back into their usual attire, packing their backpacks and putting their weapons in their places. Then they helped the Wanderers carry all the boxes and sacks towards the towers. The sun was slowly setting by the time they all arrived to the bottom of the towers. Jin was leading his camels with him. Chaizen stepped forward. He tapped his fingers against the colorful stone. Then he knocked against it lightly and yelled something. Gaara caught Chaizen's own name and title. The warrior then took out a piece of chalk from his pocket and drew a door clumsily on the wall. He pressed his hand against the solid stone and pushed.
A door opened.
That's all folks!
And now I shall give my review replies:
anamorales25: Are you not entertained? Mwahahahahhaha!~ I hope to see you again in the reviews, thanks :D
The Kazekage of Suna: I hope you stuck with the story, and not only he prequel :P I think that I actually put a lot of detail in my chapters, but I might be wrong. I get worried sometimes that I will bore my readers too much with huge descriptions, but who knows. If you still think that I do lack some details, maybe you could point them out? I'm always looking forward to reasonable critics and I think there is quite a bit of room for improvement in my writing.